About

When I first started cooking professionally, it was very common for a waiter or dining room captain to present some dishes “tableside.” Presenting tableside requires a lot of confidence but is a wonderful way to add some drama to the dining experience. Finishing the crepes for guests is a great way to bring a little formality (that is also quite fun) to your home and it pays homage to all of the “back of the house” and “front of the house” workers that make dining out such a pleasure.

Serves 4

Directions

For the crêpe batter, combine the flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk in the eggs, add the vanilla extract, zests, Grand Marnier and the butter. Whisk in ½ cup milk, adding more as necessary for a smooth silky batter. Let the batter rest at least an hour.

Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over high heat. Pour a scant ¼ cup of batter into the center of the pan. Lift the pan off of the heat and tilt the pan, rotating it so that the batter fills the skillet in a neat circle. (You should have enough batter to practice once or twice.) Cook until the bottom is lightly browned, about 1 minute. Turn the crêpe with a spatula and cook just until the other side browns. Remove from the skillet and repeat with the remaining batter. Layer the crêpes on top of each other until you have 16 crêpes.

For each serving, melt butter and sugar in a heavy bottomed skillet over high heat until the sugar starts to caramelize. Add the orange juice and bring to a boil. Add a crêpe to the pan and fold the crêpe in half and then half again and repeat with 3 more crêpes. With all 4 crêpes in the pan remove the pan from the flame and add the Grand Marnier to the crêpes and flambé the crêpes. Plate the crêpes and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Repeat with each serving of Crêpes Suzette.